Irvine Co. Taps Cox to Provide Broadband Lines
Four years after Cox Communications established a commercial broadband division in Orange County, the company has bagged a whale. Cox Business Services has signed a 25-year non-exclusive agreement with The Irvine Company to build the broadband infrastructure for more than 300 of the real estate giant’s buildings in OC. Included in the agreement are tech-dependant properties within the Irvine Spectrum, Irvine Business Complex, Newport Center and University Research Park.
Through its CoxSmart initiative, Cox has built a fiber optic ring in OC with “fiber facilities” in the street. The agreement allows the company to take the fiber into the Irvine Co. buildings, according to Dave Montierth, vice president and general manager for Cox Business Services.
“This agreement allows us to access their systems,” Montierth said.
Laying down the groundwork also gives Cox the leg up on the competition in landing contracts to provide the full range of video, data and audio services with the more than 3,000 businesses residing in Irvine Co. buildings.
Contractors for Cox are already “pulling fiber,” according to Montierth, who estimates a build-out over the next year.
“We’ve had a sales team in place and have been looking for an opportunity,” Montierth said.
Cox has a sales staff of around 20 with plans to add three to five employees following the agreement.
After viewing the landscape, Bill Halford, president of The Irvine Company Office Properties, wanted an established broadband provider that could hold up its end of a long-term agreement.
“Many of those providers are dwindling in a Darwinian model. We wanted the stability of a company like Cox.” Halford said. “Companies have to make the infrastructure investment and that’s what Cox is doing, making the infrastructure investment.” n
